B R O
by fcknrgn
Summary: Zach hates his brother. Warren hates his brother's brother. Nathan just kinda wants to stay lowkey this year. AU where LIS is now college age.
1. Chapter 1

A collective groan could be head throughout the Alpha Tau Omega house. Zachary Riggins and Nathan Prescott fighting _again_. Was it physical yet? Was this over something worthwhile or something petty, yet again? Neither question could be answered among the brothers there, with a slight exception from Hayden Jones and Logan Robertson. Both by-standers were exhausted with the other two hurling insults to the other- it was far into the night, and this argument had been going on for far too long. Though, the two silently agreed months back that they'd only intervene if the situation became physical.

"How could you _fucking_ do this, man?! There is a god damn code about this type of bullshit!" Nathan repeated, voice graveled and face flushed to a scarlet red.

" _Yeah_. _There is._ But guess what, Prescott; Victoria isn't your _actual fucking sister."_ Zach countered, with an eye roll, a dumbfounded tone prevalent in his voice.

Nathan's fingers tore through his hair, could Zach just _get_ that he was in the wrong this time? "Me and Vic have been friends since _pampers_ , asshole. She might as well be!" he said, voice raising- they'd been circling this for the past hour now. "The fact that you didn't tell me about it shows that you _knew_ you were doing a shitty thing." he added with a huff.

Hayden and Logan shared a tired glance at another; Hayden behind Nathan, taking a seat, and Logan behind Zach, leaning tiredly against the wall. They knew all of this information- how fiercely protective Nathan and Victoria were of each other, how long they'd known each other. However, Zach didn't.

Standing with a cringeful pop at the knees, Hayden grabbed Nathan's shoulder, only to be pushed off and be on the end of a disbelieving glare.

Despite Nathan's animosity toward Hayden, he shrugged. "Listen, Nate. Zach's still fairly new here." He explained softly- about six months in, not too new, but hell, Hayden was tired. "Maybe you should... Cut him some slack?" he offered with a grimacing smile- if anyone in this house could chill Nathan out, it would be Hayden. However, his lame attempt was only followed with regret as he saw the fire burn into the shorter boy's eyes.

"Six months is _long enough."_ Nathan barked through gritted teeth, still aiming his words at Zach, lurching forward, only to have Hayden hold him back at the waist.

Zach smirked, crossing his arms. Nathan had so much anger for such a petite body- it was almost comical, how every fight was initiated by him. "Listen, here, Prescott. Victoria wanted my _dick._ And, fuck, she got it." he said with a cruel laugh, shaking his pelvis in Nathan's direction, his laugh growing to a mocking one.

Nathan saw red. Jabbing his elbow into Hayden's ribs, freeing himself from the hold and pouncing onto the bigger man. Ignoring the minor pain in his knuckles, Nathan threw as many punches into Zach's face. Only to have himself be quickly flipped and feel a rain of punches landing to his own face, cursing and moving his head to the side, avoiding as much appearance damage as possible.

Hayden and Logan were met with a mixture of relief and horror as the fight began- there was blood already. However, they acted quick, Logan pulling Zach off Nathan at the waist with a grunt, and Hayden lacing his arms through Nathan's and bracing his hold onto Nathan's neck. The two angry boys still cursing and screaming at the other, faces red and noses bloodied. Hayden easily dragged the screaming Nathan out of the room and down the hallway, waking up any poor boy in their dorm.

Throwing Zach onto the bed behind them, Logan gave him an incredulous look, blocking him from moving from his spot. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" He asked, shaking his head with wide eyes. "We fucking _owe him_. You and I both know the dean wouldn't have given us a second look without that incentive from Nathan's dad." he reminded him, relieved at the calm anger below him. "Hell, they gave more to give you a _second look._ And why? Because I asked him to!"

"I got my fucking scholarship _myself._ Because I'm a god damn _good quarterback, Logan._ " he said reluctantly, ignoring most of the statement and sucking his cheek. Logan couldn't be sure about that. They never heard Nathan admit it himself, nor their football coach. He and Nathan hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other until they got to Oregon University. Zach knew of Nathan, but he didn't know him, really.

Logan only scoffed, tired of Zach's forced ignorance. He left the conversation at that, ridding himself of his clothes as he counted his breaths with closed eyes.

Feeling air brush behind him, Logan's eyes shot open, seeing Zach stomp out of their room. "Where the fuck are you going now?" he asked exasperatedly. He was clocked out for the night- Hayden would have to see this one through if it escalated once more.

" _Away from you assholes._ " he spat, slamming the door. As he made his way to through the house and his car, he listed places he could go through his head; he couldn't visit Victoria at this hour, all his "friends" were being dicks, clubs are boring when you go alone. Opening his car door and sitting down, he leaned his head back, shrugging. Home, it was. At least his mom would be happy to see him.

Nathan's voice was raw as he was lifted over Hayden's shoulder. This only causing Nathan to yell more. This was fucking humiliating, every name he was called through elementary and middle school being shot through his , his words and thoughts were only to be stopped as he was met with the cold tile of the communal shower, the hard surface surely going to leave bruises.

Nathan snarled at the floor- communal, _gross._

The cold water brought his thoughts away from the dirty, dirty tile. He was sitting on the floor of a communal shower room. A _boy's_ communal shower room. His father paid extra for him to get a room with his own bathroom to _avoid_ this very thing. And his clothes were being soaked. With cold fucking water; it was fucking January. He was already a cold person. This was just asking to get an pneumonia. He snarled up at his offender, only to be met with an angry glare.

"You fucking here, dickass?!" Hayden shouted at Nathan, keeping out of the spray. "You really need to stop trying to pi-"

"This was all that ape's fault!" Nathan interrupted, feeling anger boil into his chest again. "Now, _he_ really needs to-"

His tangent was interrupted with a yelp of his own, Hayden having turned the shower knob completely to the left- making the water as cold as it could possibly be.

" _No. You_ need to cool _the fuck down!"_ he shouted over Nathan's poor attempt to defend his actions. "'Love and Respect'. ' _Love and_ _ **Respect**_ '!" Hayden recited to Nathan, voice raised. He paused, letting those words soak into Nathan's head. He was keeping quiet- that was good, meant he was at least listening. "That's our fucking slogan, man." he reminded, voice calming as he shut off the water and crouched to Nathan's eye level- sometimes you had to treat this boy like a kid. "Love and respect for everyone, dude. You wanted to improve yourself and that means you gotta keep that shit in your head." he said slowly.

Nathan was avoiding eye contact, but is breathing was even and he was seemingly less angry. Nathan nodded at Hayden's lecture. He was right.

"Just." Hayden started, pausing to think of a solution to this blow out. "You just gotta.."

"I just need to keep my distance from Zach for a bit." Nathan said with a shrug. He'd fought with Zach multiple times before. They had never said a single word of apology to the other. They just kept their distance for a bit until it all blew over.

Hayden nodded back, agreeing with the simple solution; that was as much as they could do.

"Come on, man." he said, patting Nathan's knee. "Let's go get you dried off. You look like a drowned rat." he said, Nathan giving him a small smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting up in his bed, Zach let out a pleased noise at the sound of his various bones cracking. Blinking his sleep away, he examined his old room; surprisingly neat- his mom probably cleaned it sometime during the months he was gone... And didn't visit. Whatever, he was busy. Throwing his blanket off and standing up, he stretched his arms above his head, giving a few final pops and cracks before leaving his room.

Walking through the one story house, he grinned at the cozyness of the building- he always appreciated it once he'd experienced living in a larger building. Making the small walk to the kitchen, he felt slightly awkward, unsure how to greet his mother. Quickly shrugging it off, he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, mom." he said softly, with a sheepish smile. He laughed as his mom jumped- clearly startled. Her blonde hair was done up neatly into a bun, and simple, natural make up- her brown eyes standing out on their own.

"Zachary." She laughed through her shock, walking over to hug her son. "My, it's been nearly half a year since I've seen your face." she said, her voice edged with an accusatory tone, despite sporting a red-lipped smile.

"Hey, I call." he said, hands raised in defense.

"Yeah, hardly." a voice said, waltzing out of the hallway, tugging an old John Waters sweater over a chubby belly.

Zach only groaned at the familiar voice.

"You know, it's not even a long drive to home- like, jeez, I visit more often than you do. _And_ I work. _And_ I actually study." the voice continued as he made his way into the pantry, grabbing a box of cereal.

"Okay, I'll admit-" Zach began explaining, his sheepish tone returning.

"There's always a catch." he chuckled humorlessly, grabbing a handful of dry cereal.

" _Warren_!" their mother intervened, knowing their words would grow more and more angry without someone stepping in between. "Now, is this really how you want to welcome your brother home?"

" _Half_ brother." Zach said, glancing Warren up and down. Old sweater, WalMart sweats, he was _gross._ He took to no respect into his appearance. Ever. Really. Would it kill the kid to run a fucking hair brush through his mop of hair?

"If that." Warren countered giving Zach the same once over. That fucking fraternity had turned him into a preppy elitist. The pastel bullshit sweater with whatever fraternity plastered across his chest. Please. He looked like a fucking billboard.

"So why _are_ you home?" he asked with a quirked eye brow.

"Well." Zach started- they did deserve an explanation he guessed. "I got into a fight with my bro-"

He was interrupted with a laugh from Warren.

" _What?_ " he asked, his anger building.

"I still can't get over that you douche bags actually call each other that." he answered with a mocking tone, putting the box away.

"Warren, will you jus-" their mom started

"No, I will not _just._ I don't wanna hear shit about his stupid fake family." Warren argued, shutting the pantry door with a little too much force. The mom only winced. "I don't wanna hear shit about your college at all. We agreed that you wouldn't _bore_ me with your pointless stories if I went to a different college." he reminded Zach, his tone clearly bitter. "And well, I kept my end of the bargain." he gave an angry smile at Zach.

Zach could only roll his eyes. Warren was still upset over that. Warren was his little brother- by two years. It was embarrassing enough to be held back a year, and then to have his little brother skip a year? They'd been in the same grade since elementary school- he wanted _away_ from the fucking kid.

"Plus, if you had an issue with one of your asshole bros why didn't you just go to your dad's?" he asked with a menacing smile, trying to strike a chord. "Bet Hunter and Paula are just _dying_ to hear about their bigshot football player son become an 'All- Amurican.'" he finished, giving Zach a challenging smile. It was no secret that Hunter was hated in their family, for the most part. He dipped as soon as Zach proved to be a difficult toddler. What an idiot; all toddlers are monsters.

"Paula is _not_ my fucking mom and you know damn well Hunter is a piece of shit!" he argued, voice raising angrily. That fucking look on that smart ass's face. The only thing keeping Zach from beating Warren's ass was his mom's hands holding him back. Zach couldn't just walk in after avoiding his family for nearly half a year and then _also_ kick his brother's ass.

"That's _enough._ Both of you." she stepped in, rubbing her temples- one of her biggest physical signs that she's had enough of her two son's bickering. "Warren, why don't you tell Zach where you're catering at next?" she offered, giving him an encouraging smile. She just wanted them to get along like they used to. Perhaps a small similarity where they'd be spending the night would be a chance for them to bond. Perhaps she was a dreamer.

Warren gave her a look that said ' _what the hell, why would you do that mom?'_ before looking reluctantly at Zach. "I'm serving _orderves_ at your fraternities dumb New Years party. Me and Chloe are." he said through gritted teeth.

"Thought you wanted nothing to do with my college?" Zach asked mockingly, with a snarl.

"Money is money." Warren said with a shrug."Not all of us got a full ride to college." he added in a quiet tone. Their family always struggled with finances. Their mom was such a hard worker- two jobs and no husband. And she was amazing with them- always wanted them to focus on their schooling so they wouldn't end up like her. It broke Warren's heart. It only got worse when her husband, Warren's father passed away. Despite everything, Warren really tried to kick ass with his academics, and maybe get a scholarship; apparently a straight 4.0 and skipping a grade just wasn't enough. Apparently he should've focused more on sports.

Zach winced, money. It was always the issue with his family. But it wasn't a problem for him anymore. He was still unsure of how to go about the subject now.

"Just. Keep the fuck away from me and my friends,okay?" he requested monotonously, though slightly irritated.

"Yeah, whatever." he muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day was the annual Alpha Tau Omega New Years Party. It was, of course, hosted by the fellow bachelors of the Alpha Tau Omega house. Every sorority was invited to said event, however the other fraternities were well... Shit out of luck. However, the bachelors such as Nathan found this to be a bittersweet thing. While, him finding a New Years sweetheart to give his white rose to was slim to none, it also left him with plenty of mind space left to focus on much more important matters... Such as decoration.

"Fucking _way more_ to the left! Jesus fucking Christ, did you idiots not measure this wall at all?!" he yelled in frustration, scrubbing at his face. This was Nathan's first year attending the New Years party, and of course these neanderthals left all the setting up and supervising to him. They could hardly tell their elbow from their asscheek.

"Hey babe!" A feminine voice said from behind in a sing song tune. Nathan gave a quick, silent thank you to whichever God had sent this angel. Turning around he was happy to see Victoria. Make up, done, hair, done, nails, done; probably waxed up- _ew_. Though Nathan couldn't help but find the juxtaposition of her done up self wearing an Alpha Chi Omega tank top and sweats to be fairly cute. He couldn't blame his fraternity brothers for crushing on his old friend. Fuck, if he was into girls, and well, hadn't known Victoria at her ugly phase, he'd probably crush on her too.

"Hey, doll." he greeted, looping his arm around her waist, looking at her face as she inspected the ballroom. She seemed pleased.. Ish.

"Could use some _color._ " She laughed, resting her head on Nathan's shoulder. Anywhere you looked in this room- black, white, shades of grey, and silver. Nathan was clearly more fond of a monotone color scheme. "No blue? No gold? Those _are_ your house's colors." she said with a wince. Nathan wasn't always safe to give constructive criticism to. He could take it harshly pretty damn easily.

To Victoria's relief, he only nodded at the advice. "Yeah, probably." he agreed, shrugging. "Kinda late on that though." he smiled, somewhat thankful that this shindig was nearly over and done with. He simply didn't give a fuck about New Years. Everything stayed the same each year. Everyone fucked up on their New Year's resolution, the new year comes and goes. Tests. Finals. More holidays. Every year was painfully routine, and for three more years, this party would just be another addition to the routine of the year.

Nathan sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his index finger and his thumb, feeling the weight of next year's responsibilities already effecting him.

Victoria noticed this, checking her phone for the time, she saw that there was... Three hours until the party was supposed to start. Meaning they had about four hours to get ready. "Come on, Nate. Let's go get dressed." She offered with a big smile.

"We've got plenty of time. I only have to put on a suit. And you only need to get your dress on." he said with a laugh, giving her a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't you do that to me."she insisted, pulling him away from his previous standing place. "We need time to chat, talk shit, get dressed, and take lots of pictures together." she listed with a laugh. "Maybe get some Starbies?" she offered, batting her coated eyelashes.

Nathan rolled his knew exactly what Victoria was trying to do and he appreciated it. Victoria knew how much this event was bumming him out. Not to mention he was now sporting a lovely black eye. Word spread fast and everyone knew exactly what happened between him and Zach. It was probably due to Victoria's manners and charm that she didn't bring it up.

"Okay." he said finally. "We'll go get some coffee, chill, get ready." he added the specifics with a laugh. He knew Victoria only wanted to cheer him up and so, he'd play it up a little bit. She was a good friend, so why not? "My treat, though."

A few hours later Nathan found himself on his back on Victoria's bed in Alpha Chi Omega. His jacket had been yet to put on, but aside from that, he was dressed in his finest suit and YSL dress shoes. All he had left to wait on was Victoria. But people who are feminine have their.. Feminine things to do. He wasn't sure exactly what took Victoria over a half hour to put on- he thought she only needed to put on a nice dress and heels. Maybe some accessories? Aside from that, he wasn't sure what else there was to put on.

"Are you ready?" she asked excitedly from her bathroom. "I bet you're not!" she giggled as she stepped out.

Nathan sat up, taking in the sight of his best friend all dolled up. Simple diamond earrings, a high cut halter dress- tight down until her hips, and even then it was still fairly fitted. A slit up the long skirt of the dress. White, subtle sparkles. Victoria was the definition of class.

"You look _beautiful_." he said, standing up, placing his hands on either side of her waist. "Red lips. Nice touch." He added with a smile. She was at his eye level now, she must be wearing kitten heels- she was never comfortable enough with her height to wear pumps or platforms. Or even tall heels. Sometimes he was greatful that she didn't wear anything to make him look shorter than he actually was. But, knowing it was due to her nervousness about being 'too tall' was a little upsetting.

"Thank you, Nate." she said, her smile soft as she kept her gaze toward the floor. They weren't usually like this with each other. It was typically more brother-sister than compliments given out.

"And how 'bout me?" he prompted with a laugh, trying to uplift the air a bit.

Victoria laughed along with him. "Hmm." she played, pretending to think. "You look pretty handsome, too. _I guess_." she said, giving him an air kiss to his cheek.

Grabbing his suit jacket, he threw a quick wink her way as he placed it on himself. "Alright. Let's go fuckin' party." he said with forced enthusiasm. Before leaving Victoria's room, he grabbed the short stem white rose and placed it in his pocket. The boys of Alpha Tau Omega were supposed to give it as an offering to the person they wanted to kiss for midnight. It was a cute idea. But, Nathan knew that once that part of the party was actually happening, he'd be miserable.


	4. Chapter 4

The party turned out to be everything Nathan expected it to be. And just how he predicted earlier as well, he was miserable. Majority of the party guests had already arrived drunk off their asses, so 'classy' was definitely no longer an appropriate way to describe this evening. All Nathan wanted to do was to throw off his suit and maybe smoke a joint with his friends. Unfortunately, they were all probably now arm in arm with some chick they planned on kissing at midnight. Checking his watch for the time- 11:15pm. Well, maybe it was more than necessary to get your partner ready now..

Nathan sighed. He couldn't even find Victoria to gossip and talk shit with. Well, he probably made it no easier to find himself, figuring how he was hiding out in a small kiddy corner; champagne in hand and sulking in his people watching. Nathan just hoped Victoria wouldn't see Zach be his obnoxiously flirty, drunk self. Victoria wasn't the type to cry over a boy- and Nathan would never let her be. But, he knew Victoria had gotten a small _thing_ for Zach shortly after Zach and Juliet broke up.

Downing the last of his champagne, Nathan started to make his way to the exit. He'd had enough of his internal whining. He could just go smoke alone, that'd be fine. Fuck his friends. Fuck his friends _tonight_ at least.

However, he was stopped halfway to the door. He saw something- or well, _someone_ that caught his eye. Nathan felt his jaw clench as he made a b-line to the young lady with _blue hair._ This was not that sort of party. He groaned inwardly as he angrily undid his tie- everything was feeling just too much right now. Scrubbing at his face and hair, he let out a frustrated growl as a wall of people blocked his way towards the blue haired girl. Biting his cheek, he waited for their human blockade to move, or atleast, make for a clearing.

Seeing how these _fine_ ladies were too engrossed in whatever the fuck they were talking about to realize that they needed to move, Nathan just went around, excusing and pardoning himself threw the small gaps in between the various smaller groups. He let out a tiny breath of relief as he finally had a clear opening to the girl- she just needed to leave. _Her hair wasn't appropriate._

Just as Nathan was an ear shot of said girl, she turned on her heel, quickly stomping away. Nathan inturn sped up his steps,only to wind up with a full tray of caviar swinging towards his face.

"Wanna try some fish fetuses?" Nathan heard a voice say in a bright, sarcastic tone as he bent slightly backwards, trying to avoid _actually_ getting hit with the side of the tray. In the quick moment, Nathan couldn't help but be grateful for the large hand placed at the small of his back. Clearly realizing that it would be _his fault_ had Nathan ended up injured.

"Woah, there, now." The voice laughed. "You almost fell for me there." it said cheekily

Nathan was about to pop off, fire both him and the blue haired girl before looking up to the owner of the voice. Seeing warm, brown eyes, and a bright smile, Nathan decided that _just this once_ he would let it slide.

Nathan could only blush and accept the help as the brown eyed boy placed the tray down and assisted him on regaining his balance.

One hand on the small of Nathan's back and the other placed at the middle, Nathan was quickly at his regular height again- only to notice that he was once again, face to neck with this boy.

Nathan was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a soft laugh coming from the stranger. Was he... Laughing at his own joke? Nathan's perplexed eyes were met with the crinkled brown ones. Oh my god- he actually was.

The crinkle in the eyes disappeared quickly as the boy actually got a look at Nathan. It was replaced with a look of concern.

"Hey, are you okay? You look _fucked up_." he said abruptly.

Nathan gave an offended look before thinking his appearance over; ruffled hair, missing tie, wrinkled shirt collar, red face. And to top it all off, his eye was still a painful shade of purple.

"Well, I'm not _physically_ hurt. I'm just." Nathan sighed; was he really using that small window of opportunity to rant to this stranger? "I'm just not really _feelin'_ tonight." he decided on.

The boy laughed. "Yeah, I guess I can kinda say the same." he agreed easily. "But, c'mon- you're not working! You got your monkey suit on, go find a bitch to kiss at midnight? That might fix your night up." he offered with a laugh.

Nathan let out a small grimace. "They're not exactly _my type._ " he said shortly.

The boy let out a small "Ah" and a nod. "Well, I guess that makes anyone _my type_." he shrugged.

Nathan gave the boy a once-over, slightly suspicious with his kindness. Non-slip shoes, dirty slacks, tucked in white button up, bow-tie. He eyed his name tag, reading the name with a hint of confusion.

"Your name is Graham?"

He matched the confused look, glancing down at his name tag as he realized what exactly he meant. "Oh, my _last_ name is Graham." he corrected with a sheepish grin. "You can call me Warren if you want." he offered. "Daniel is my middle name, if you prefer that." he added with a smile.

"Warren." Nathan said with a smile, not minding the way the name felt on his tongue. "Nathan Joshua Prescott." He offered, "The third." he added with a wince.

"Well, well, well." Warren said, leaning his hand on the table, "I didn't kno-" he stopped abruptly, noticing a way too familiar mop of hair. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed Nathan's wrist, ducking them both under the crowd of people.

"Hey, uh Nathan, right?" Warren said quickly."You, um. You wanna get out of here?" he asked, eyes just begging for him to say yes.

Nathan gave him a side eye, wanting to see exactly what spooked the other boy. Though, figuring as he did want to leave, perhaps this was the perfect time. "Okay."

The two walked along the beach, bumping shoulders and passing a swiped champagne bottle between the two of them. The short walk there was made even shorter with the enthusiasm the two had to get out of the party.

"So, you're telling me you go to school _full time_ and still find time to work?" Nathan asked with small suprise.

"It's a regular thing if you're not privileged." he said dismissively with a shrug, readjusting his backpack.

Nathan winced- he was _very_ privileged. He offered the champagne bottle back to Warren after a quick swig.

Warren denied this turn, instead he asked "What's the time?"

"Bout 11:50." Nathan replied, after glancing down at his watch.

Warren stopped in his place- not realizing how far the time had past. Grabbing Nathan and pushing him down onto his bottom, he gave a gesture to 'sit there and wait'. Whether it was due to the rising intoxication or the fact that he found Warren to be so damn cute or both, but Nathan was extremely compliant- sitting just where Warren told him to, watching the other boy with growing curiosity.

"You ever set off fireworks?" Warren asked over his shoulder as he dug through his backpack. Chloe would kill him for using their fireworks on some date-kinda-not-really-maybe thing. But he had no idea where Chloe and Max were even at. So, he figured- they could go fuck themselves.

"No." Nathan laughed sheepishly. "They're illegal in Florida. I got law abiding citizens for parents." he laughed. Warren only turned around, giving Nathan an incredulous stare, clearly judging his lack of experience.

"Okay, fuck you Graham." Nathan defended with a laugh. "And plus, fireworks is Fourth of July bullshit, anyways." he argued with a triumphant smile.

Warren blew a raspberry as he dumped out all the fireworks in front of him. "Says who?" Warren countered with a smirk.

Nathan shrugged- he may have had a point there. He watched Warren closely, leaning back on his elbows, making himself comfortable for this little show.

"Plus, I made these all on my own." Warren informed with childlike pride.

Nathan's eyes widened. "This is it. This is my death." he said indefinitely.

Warren gave an offended look as he set out everything neatly. "I'll have you know, I'm at the top of my year in chemistry. I _know_ shit that explodes."

"Local teen boys die by their _faces getting blown off._ " Nathan recited, ignoring the new information presented to him.

Warren only scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, pish-posh, Prescott." he drawled as he began setting off the fireworks.

Looking back at Nathan, he couldn't help but chuckle at the amazement clearly shown in the boy's eyes. Had he never even seen fireworks in person before? Making the small distance back to Nathan, he used the his awe to his advantage. Apparently, Nathan was expecting to just watch them all and do no work at all? No, no, no; Warren didn't think so.

Scooping him up, he laughed at the boy's whimpy protests."C'mon, Nathan _you_ have to light some too!" he insisted as he plopped him down in front of his small set up. Fireworks were still erupting and they had to yell over them with how close they were now.

Nathan attempted to deny and protest and refuse to light the damn things, but quieted as Warren handed him the lighter- there was really no getting out of this moment.

"C'mon, just the last three; it'll be fine." Warren said, patting Nathan on the back, letting his hand linger for a half second.

Nathan finally did as he was told with a furious blush prevalent on his cheeks. He was half thankful for the dark- giving his pink cheeks some camouflage.

Nathan jumped as Warren let out a loud "Whoop!" from next to him, grabbing his shoulders and hugging him. "You did it, Nathan!" he laughed, shaking him a bit. "You got over your fear of fireworks!" he said enthusiastically.

"Woah, hey now, I'm not _afr-_ " Nathan began, but was interrupted as the wind was knocked out of him, Warren having thrown them at least two feet back from where they were previously sitting.

"Fuckin- jeez, oh my god. Sorry." Warren said breathlessly, looking behind them. "I, uhm. I thought one was gonna blow backwards?" he added, his laugh giving him away.

"You're so full of shit." Nathan laughed with an eye roll, hitting him lightly on the chest.

"Yeah, but you love it." Warren replied with a smirk, getting comfortable over Nathan.

Nathan looked away, shrugging with a smile. He didn't exactly wanna own up to that right now. This boy's ego seemed healthy enough. He bit his lip as he felt his pocket, seeing if his belonging was still there- luckily it was.

Nathan presented Warren the crushed white rose with a nervous smile. Warren met his smile with a confused stare.

"It's- It's for New Years." he explained shortly. Warren only continued to give him the same confused look, crushed rose in hand now. "You give it to the person you'd like to kiss at midnight." he explained in a quieter voice.

It was Warren's turn to blush. That was quite the... Old romantic way to ask someone to kiss them.

"Are you saying you want to kiss me, Nathan?" he asked softly,leaning closer to the boy.

"Yes." Nathan replied quietly- more nervously than he intended.

"What time is it?" he asked, Nathan only to be interrupted with distant woops and cheers about the new year.

Warren laughed. "Happy New Year." he whispered, his lips ghosting over Nathan's.

"Happy 2016." Nathan replied, pulling Warren down to close the gap in between them- his hands laced in Warren's soft hair.


End file.
